"Hey."
A little startled, Katsuko turned her head and removed one earbud when she heard Ichigo's voice. He was standing in her shade, holding his sandwich and a juice box. A second later, he just approached her to take a seat on a step above hers. She was already done with her lunch so she was just drinking from her juice box and enjoying her time. She was wondering why he suddenly decided to show up and that must have been obvious to him since he gave her answer right away.
He held up his hand and pointed at something for two seconds before focusing his attention on unwrapping his sandwich.
"A club reserved the classroom for the week."
"Oh." was all she said before drinking some more.
She saw some girls walking past the windows, it looked like they were chatting and laughing. Maybe it was some drama club or something. She turned her head and put her elbow on her knee as she looked at him. "So, you decided to invade my territory?"
His coffee brown eyes met her dark brown ones that were expressing some sort of amusement.
"It was the first thing that came to mind." he took a bite of his sandwich.
"From what I can tell, all of my places come to mind." Katsuko pointed out. "You… territory invader."
Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I need to have a peaceful place. It's better."
Now that he was talking about it, she was rather curious about why he chose to eat in isolated places. She just never brought it up due to feeling like she was sticking her nose in his business. She didn't want to seem like she was prodding... but she was really curious.
"Why do you choose to stay alone during lunch periods?" she asked curiously, slightly tilting her head to the side. Ichigo just stared at her wordlessly as he chewed and swallowed the piece he took. "It's because a group of upperclassmen like to start shit with me when I'm trying to enjoy my lunch. You know, those guys that were around me the last time you saw?"
"Oh, yeah. I remember that." she said while positing herself to sit back against the railing of the steps. "Why don't you... I dunno, blend in with the other students? I don't think those upperclassmen would bother people eating their lunch when they have nothing against them?"
"I just end up scaring the other students though." he said nonchalantly. "I rather eat somewhere where they won't see me." he said gruffly before taking another bite of his sandwich. "It's bad enough that they piss me off after school... I don't need them ruining my lunch with their ugly faces." he mumbled with a scowl. Katsuko caught onto to those last words, making her frown.
"The heck? They pick on you after school? That's... not good."
He could hear the hidden concern in her voice which made him look at her. She was staring at him with slight furrowed brows and she looked like she was biting the inside of her bottom lip a little. He simply waved his hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about it. Nothing I can't handle." he reassured her, not really caring about it one bit. He spared her the information that sometimes they would get the upper hand on him, causing him to get home looking like a car ran over him. She didn't need to know all of that.
"It must suck that everything is caused by your ridiculous hair. People are either scared of you or they just hate you for it."
"Right?" he chuckled, reaching up to hold a handful of it. "Can't do anything about it though. I was born with it."
Katsuko blinked. "Why don't you dye it?"
"Nah, too much trouble."
"You could dye it red." Katsuko grinned.
Ichigo shot her quizzical look. "Are you kidding? That wouldn't change anything."
"Well, it would match with your name." she said with a short laugh. He rolled his eyes at that, bringing his attention back to his sandwich. "Instead of looking like a carrot you'd look like a real strawberry. Maybe you could also dye your hair green at the top." He just nudged her foot his since his mouth was busy chewing the last piece. She just retaliated by nudging his foot back.
Ichigo scoffed as he balled up the wrapper. "Keep dreaming because that's never happening." he said before taking out his juice box.
Their interactions had certainly changed ever since Ichigo confronted her about being awkward. Katsuko felt more comfortable to crack a joke around him and she had no problem mocking him jokingly like she usually did to her two other friends. Ichigo didn't seem to mind either with how relaxed she was being around him. In fact, it was refreshing.
While the absence of the awkwardness pleased them both, two other people couldn't help but feel uneasy about it, seeing their friendlier relationship as a poor choice on the girl's side. They were watching them from a far with unease expressions.
…
…
…
When school was done for the day, Katsuko and Ichigo walked side by side on their way down to the first floor, talking about their assignment that was pretty much done. It just needed a bit of refining before writing the final copy, which Ichigo volunteered to do himself. At first, Katsuko got worried since she couldn't supervise how he would do, but he quickly assured her he let her see it next week, that way they would both be checking their written work before he wrote the final copy. He even promised he wouldn't start writing it until she reviewed it (since she looked so concerned over the matter). They would be officially done with the first part by next week if things went well.
She met up with Jun and Haru downstairs in front of the doors. The first thing that she thought was strange was when Jun ushered her out gently yet hastily along with them in a noticeably faster pace than usual. The second thing that was odd was when she spotted Haru glancing over his shoulder a few times before paying attention in front of him. The two boys, especially Haru, thought they were being quite subtle in their actions. They just failed to notice how observant Katsuko became to be in the past month and a half.
"Katsuko," Jun started when he lowered his arm down and pulled away from her. "Do you remember what we told you? About being careful?"
Ah... so this is where it's going.
"Yeah."
"I..." Jun scratched his cheek with his forefinger as he thought about how he was supposed to phrase his next sentence. "You really shouldn't be hanging around Kurosaki so much... we told you that he was bad news, didn't we?"
Katsuko shrugged. "Oh yeah? Well, he hasn't done anything bad to me though." she shot back nonchalanty.
Haru scratched the back of his head. "It's a bad idea to hang around a thug... even if you knew them as a kid. People change y'know? They're not always the same." he said, getting straight to the point.
Katsuko narrowed her eyes at the boy who was born on the same day as her. She had a deep frown on her face. "I didn't start associating myself with him because of the past. If you think that's the reason why I'm hanging around him then you're wrong, doofus."
"I'm just saying." Haru quickly replied, hands up in defense.
Jun frowned. "Katsuko, I personally don't want you hanging with a bad person. I know that Haru feels the same way."
This conversation was the very reason why Katsuko chose to keep her assignment a secret. She was normally the type to talk about things that she witnessed, heard, or thought was amusing. Her assignment would have been one of those topics considering how she was suddenly paired with the guy she wanted to avoid and the fact that it was such a huge assignment for her first year in middle school. She remembered their warnings. It practically discouraged her to talk about it. The only person she told was her mother. Of course, she left out the details about Ichigo's reputation in order to avoid worrying her mother. But now that she had a better idea about why he became a delinquent at school, she would tell her mother the truth since she felt bad for keeping stuff unsaid.
Katsuko sighed heavily. She didn't know when they first saw her with Ichigo, but there was no point in trying to keep it hidden now. They would probably just spot them again from who knows where.
Katsuko told them about her assignment. And as she expected, they didn't look too pleased.
"That just makes things complicated..." Jun muttered to himself before he crossed the road with Katsuko and Haruki. "Still, I want you to unfriend him though."
"Jun!" Katusko gaped in disbelief. "But why?!" she held back from telling him that he wasn't her mom.
... And I was just starting to get along with him!
"You think I want you to be friends with someone dangerous?!" Jun stopped walking and gave her a grave expression. "I'm worried about you. I don't want you hanging around bad people, and I know Haru feels the same here." Haruki nodded in agreement. "We don't want you to get hurt. Don't you see that?"
Katsuko sighed exasperatedly, she rubbed her face with her right hand in annoyance. "No, I do... But..."
Even if she genuinely felt touched by their concern, she couldn't help but feel sour about the whole thing. The three were close friends. It made sense for them to look out for her but... they didn't know anything about Ichigo. Sure, she didn't know much about him either aside from the information she learned today, but they didn't know her like she did. They didn't know that he was a nice guy minding his own business while trying to ease others by not being around them. Their concerns were obviously fueled from witnessing Ichigo's fights with seniors from their school.
"If possible..." Haru spoke after a moment of silence. "Try working with him where you won't be seen by others. I know that he attracts the wrong people."
Ichigo was literally the only person she actually spoke to in school aside from Jun and Haru. Perhaps it was too early to call him one, but she thought of him as a friend. Why would she want to stop hanging around him when there was no harm in it?
But Haru does have a point... Kurosaki does have unpleasant company even if he doesn't want it. And I don't like having trouble... it's so complicated.
Katsuko lowered her head, feeling conflicted about the situation. She felt Jun's hand land on top of it, resting there without doing anything. She glanced up at him through her dark bangs with what could be described as a lonely expression. She came face to face with him since they were about the same height, just that he was a little shorter. Jun gave her a small smile; he was trying to cheer her up.
Jun saw that she was making a friend at school. He didn't want to take that away from her, but her safety mattered above anything else. She had to understand that. Haru felt the same. It's just that Jun was more vocal when it came to these kinds of things, he was more sensitive compared to Haru.
"We'll see…" Katsuko sighed before gently taking Jun's hand off of her head, "Let's go home." she said in a gloomy manner before walking off at her own slow pace.
The two boys exchanged troubled looks before catching up to her.
She never said that she'd unfriend Ichigo.
She just told them 'We'll see'.
That was the last thing she wanted right now.
Katsuko would be lying to herself if she said that Ichigo's presence did not make her happy. He chased away the loneliness she felt when being alone, something she had unconsciously gotten used to, and actually made her hope that Ichigo would drop by wherever she ate. It was nice having someone to talk to, even just simply being there made her happy.
If only she had the guts to ask her friends if she could spend her lunch time with them in the first place, maybe she wouldn't feel so lonely. That was on her. But sometimes, she would hope that they would at least notice her loneliness instead of assuming she wanted to be alone or something.
Katsuko dragged her lethargic body towards the steps, her face looking like she was in a daze after running for ten minutes despite walking several times to cool down. With a soft groan, she planted her hands on the cement before twisting her body and dropping herself in a sitting position. Then she put her elbows on her knees and leaned forward, dropping her head low.
Three years ago, she used to love running around and getting hyped up, something the girls her age would rather not do, preferring to simply kick back and relax. She loved playing dodge-ball, a rough game that could lead to hits to the face. She used to love P.E. Now, it felt like a chore.
Nothing stays the same I guess.
Katsuko felt someone sit next to her, she turned head to peek at whoever was sitting next to her. A small smile appeared on her face when she saw Ichigo sitting next to her, looking rather amused at her slumped form. He was part of the first group that had to run while she was with the second group.
"What's up?" she drawled.
"You literally walked right past me when I called your name." Ichigo leaned back. "I was wondering if your hearing stopped working or something."
Katsuko scoffed. "Yeah, don't worry. I'm not deaf. Just dead ass tired." she lifted her head and propped it up with her hand. "By the way, do you still plan on eating at my spot?"
Ichigo shrugged. "I guess, why?"
Katsuko lolled her head to the side. "You got any other isolated places in mind where we could eat lunch? I'm thinking I could use a change in scenery since the classroom is busy."
Ichigo's eyes shifted upwards as he raked through his memories. "There's a table way over there under a tree." he pointed behind him, not towards the place but just to show her in what direction. "No one really goes there. You wanna eat there?"
Katsuko nodded. Somewhere else where Jun and Haru won't be expecting me to be at, she thought to herself. They were most likely keeping an eye out for her now.
"Alright, sure."
"Cool. Bring our work so I can review it too." Katsuko said before yawning into the back of her hand. "Hm? What's that?" she said after spotting a dark spot on his upper arm, it was nearly hidden from his short sleeve. She sat up straight to look at it closely. It looked like a bruise. He simply glanced down, then he frowned.
"Got into a fight yesterday with two guys. I forgot about one of them and got hit." he said with a shrug. "It's actually been the only hit I've gotten in a while. Not bad."
"Yikes." Katsuko cringed. "And that's something to be proud of?"
"Well, considering how they're always on my ass, then yeah."
Katsuko chuckled. "Sure, I guess. I wouldn't know anything about it though."
Ichigo patted her shoulder. "And you shouldn't. It's not fun, trust me." he dropped his hand on his lap. "That's the last thing you should be getting involved in."
"Oh no, I believe you. I don't want anything to do with guys with peacock hair and funky glasses." she said with a snicker as the recalled peacock haired boy. "You kicked their asses though?" she asked with a grin.
He looked smug for a moment there. "Of course."
"Ah, as expected of Mashiba's resident delinquent newcomer." Katsuko clapped her hands, looking like she was proud of him. Her act quickly broke down since she ended up laughing a little from it. He laughed a little with her while shaking his head.
Katsuko leaned back against the step behind her.
He's not a bad guy. I know that for certain.
…
…
…
That afternoon on the way home, Katsuko wanted to try and convince her friends that Ichigo wasn't all that bad. By doing so, she was hoping that she would help erase Ichigo's stereotype from her own friends. Things would have perhaps gone smoothly… if something unexpected never happened in the first place. Something that would prove Jun and Haru's worries.
They were confronted by a group of delinquents.
"You Kurosaki's little girlfriend?" Peacock boy sniggered, "Ain't cha?"
Katsuko shook her head, feeling uneasy. Jun and Haru, who were standing next to her, were looking around worriedly. "I'm not, I swear." she couldn't help the tremor in her voice, she held her phone closer to her chest. She was recording the whole thing without them knowing.
A guy with curly brown haired scoffed. "Don't lie! I saw you two together!"
She resisted the urge to throw a logical explanation.
So what? I can't be friends with a guy?! Bullshit! LOOK AT THE DUDES BEHIND ME!
Jun bit his lip nervously. This is exactly what he wanted to avoid! He could feel Haru fidgeting nervously behind him.
Peacock boy scoffed. "Doesn't matter. You're close to him, that's for sure. I got three of my guys confirming that." he took a step forward, making the three freshmen step back nervously. "You see, we got a little beef with that punk. He messed up two of my guys a few days ago, and I gotta pay him back tenfold."
Katsuko tried to calm her racing heart, she averted her eyes away from him as she quickly tried figuring out a way out of this mess.
"But he's always hiding. But I'm sure, once he hears about how his little girlfriend—"
"Over here officer! Help! These guys are threatening us!" Jun yelled loudly, standing on his tiptoes while pointing at his spot as he stared behind the group of seniors. Immediately, the older guys gasped and whipped around. It was probably not their first run in with the police. Once they were distracted, the youngest freshman grabbed the silent boy and the girl and tugged them along as he ran. The two of them quickly caught on and started bolting away from the thugs.
"Boss! They're getting away!"
"Oi! Get the hell back here!"
Katsuko, Haru and Jun sped off even faster, fear fueling their stamina beyond the limit. They weren't sure how long they kept running for, but they were able to lose them when they ran into a busy area. They ended up in a big grocery store, where it was cool thanks to the air conditioner. They didn't stay there for too long; it was only to catch their breath while they cool off. They also bought some snacks too. After that, they decided to walk home since they already made some distance on foot.
Katsuko needed to thank her school for implementing a cardio training for the first term. It really helped.
Jun ran his fingers in his hair in frustration. "See, Katsuko? This is what I meant!" the girl didn't look at him, she just ate her cheetos silently. "Haru was right, Kurosaki attracts the wrong crowd and he got you involved in his shit!"
"What? You think he does it on purpose?" Katsuko spat. "You think he likes having those assholes on his ass?"
"What?" Haru stopped drinking his soda.
"It's not his fault those guys like to bully him. Unlike some people who just take it, he fights back." Katsuko rolled the bag of Cheetos, suddenly losing her craving for something to eat. She put her bag in front of her and stuffed the junk food in there. "You can't say he got me involved when he just defends himself. I actually know all this because I didn't let my opinion get swayed by some dumb rumors." she gave them a pointed look.
"You still hung out with him even though we told you it was dangerous?" Jun said, shocked. "I told you to stop."
Katsuko clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Stereotypes are dangerous. Not him. Kurosaki is… he's the first person I was able to become friends with in my class. I can't just unfriend him! And I don't want to!"
Haruki sighed heavily as he scratched the back of his head. "Okay, fine. Let's consider that Kurosaki is not the delinquent everyone makes him out to be. It doesn't change the fact that his fights just made his bullies target you too!"
"But that's not his fault! It's… It's those damn idiots!"
"Still! You got involved!" Haru argued. "Who's to say they won't again?!"
Jun nodded in agreement, crossing his arms. "What happens if Haru and I aren't there when it happens? What then?!"
Katsuko kept her mouth shut. Her fists were clenched tightly. Whatever she could come up with to prove them wrong would not have any guarantee at all. Nothing was going to be certain. They were right, those bullies might come after her again since they were aware that she hung out with Ichigo. And now that she thought about it, what could be the chance that they might target Jun and Haru because of their association with her? They might think they were friends of Ichigo too.
"… I-I don't know!" Katsuko groaned as she stared hard at the stone floor. She stomped her foot in frustration. "I don't…" her hands loosened. Her face turned into one of glum.
Seeing the dejected look on their friend's face, the two boys' hard expressions softened. They looked at each other when they saw how upset their friend was about the idea of unfriending Ichigo. They were not going to budge on their position, but that didn't mean that they didn't feel guilty for urging her to cut ties with him. If what she was saying was the truth, then they felt even more awful about it. She just already felt somewhat attached to him. It was one of her endearing qualities to be affectionate towards people who were worthy in her eyes but in a more subtle manner in the past two years.
Haru stepped closer to her before gently putting an arm around her in a friendly manner. "You know that we're saying this because we care right?" he said while gently pulling her along as he started walking towards home.
"… Yeah." she answered in a monotone voice.
"So, don't think bad of us, okay?" Jun peeked at her face since it was hidden behind her long bangs.
Katsuko just frowned but she nodded nonetheless.
...
...
...
Ichigo clenched his fist tightly, he was pissed off.
Katsuko had asked him to follow her outside when it was the break. Back in the classroom, she was tugging on his sleeve, showing him that it wasn't something she wanted to talk about in the classroom. The expression on her face also told him that it was quite serious. When they were somewhere near an isolated stairway, she pulled out her phone and showed him what had transpired yesterday after school. She saw his face contort into something she had never seen before, it was anger. It made her a little nervous.
"Was that the first time?"
"Wh-What?" she snapped out of her own thoughts.
"Is this the first time those guys came up to you?"
"… Yeah."
Ichigo looked a little relieved. When he watched the video, he was hoping she wasn't just hiding it from him for a while now but was choosing to not say anything for his sake or some crap like that.
She didn't want to flat out say 'My friends are telling me to stay away from you' so she opted with asking him what he thought she should be doing now.
Ichigo frowned, he looked outside the window next to them. "I guess we'll stop hanging out at lunch until this whole thing blows over or at least stop hanging in places that aren't too visible? Like I said, you shouldn't get involved in something like that." He shrugged. "Besides, it's not like you can avoid me forever. We're practically stuck with each other until the end of the year."
Katsuko nodded once, snapped her fingers, and pointed at him. "Right." she resisted the urge to grin happily. She was glad that he wasn't going to agree with her two other friends. Last thing she needed was feeling dejected.
"In the meantime," Ichigo cracked his knuckles with a sadistic grin. "I'm gonna teach those idiots a lesson for messing with people. I'll make sure they don't mess with you again. After all, I'm the one they're after."
Katsuko sweat dropped. "Just be careful. I know you're the school's newest delinquent but try not to end up beat up on the side of the road…" she said with a small chuckle.
Ichigo scoffed before turning to walk back to class. "I take karate classes. I'm not going down that easy."
She followed after him, falling into step next to him and hummed while giving him an unimpressed look. "Confident punk, huh? When did you start taking those karate classes, though?"
"I guess… since I was four? Yeah, four years old."
"Aah," she snickered. "And here I thought all this time you were wildly throwing hands left and right. You don't look like someone who takes karate classes."
Ichigo shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Well, I won't be attending them for long. I feel like quitting sometime this year or the next."
Katsuko titled her head. "How come?"
They turned around the corner. She noticed that he didn't answer right away to her question. "I signed up because of my mom." He looked at her with a small smile, one that, from what she could tell, seemed a little forced. "I saw the value of learning since it was useful for self-defense and for protecting my little sisters. I'm not about to become a master of karate, so I figured it would be time to quit since I learned quite enough."
Katsuko wasn't sure if she should wander deeper into the subject because he was a little hesitant in answering her curious question. Instead she just hummed again. "I get it. And besides, you get enough training from fighting thugs nowadays." she grinned at that last part, causing him to snicker with a nod.
…
…
…
As suggested, Ichigo and Katsuko kept their distance starting with that same day. To actually make sure she didn't sneak off to hang with him, Jun and Haru invited her to join them on the way to the convenience store during the lunch period, just the three of them. It was a nice change. She enjoyed it very much. They laughed and told each other stories of how their school year went so far, leaving no room for silence or boredom during their lunch break. Katsuko never brought up how Ichigo suggested that their distance would be a temporary thing. She didn't want to go through another one of Jun's lectures.
Unfortunately, Katsuko couldn't even catch a break from peacock dude and his gang. When school was over, she was leaving with her friends like usual. It wasn't until they made it halfway to the school gates that Haruki spotted the group making a beeline for them. Jun urged them both to run and run they did. Obviously, the departing students around them gave them confused looks as they passed them by with fear plastered all over their faces.
"No point in waiting for the bus to stop now!" Haru whined.
"At this point, we might as well run home!" Jun panted.
"I caaan't! I don't have the legs for that!" Katsuko complained.
Katsuko was already feeling the adrenaline rush. Her fives sense heightened, so when she heard someone getting closer behind her, it nearly made her whip around and kick whoever was behind her. She may not give the impression today, but she was quite the bratty child during her first years in elementary school, which played a part in building her rather mild aggressiveness.
However, before she could even make a move, the guy fell towards her. With a yelp, she side-stepped away and watched him fall. Jun and Haruki stopped running, with the latter almost falling over from the sudden stop, and looked behind them. There, on top of the guy's back who was so close from putting his grubby hand on their friend, was Ichigo's foot.
"Ugh—! Damn you, Kurosaki…!" the guy underneath him groaned after recognizing him, trying to push himself back up. "You finally showed up you—!"
Ichigo clicked his tongue. "Be quiet!" he stomped on his back as a warning. Then, his face softened a little as he looked at the girl who was not on his shit list. "You okay?"
Katsuko momentarily stared at him dumbly. She shook her head to snap out of it. "Yeah, thanks." she replied, giving him an awkward thumbs up. Ichigo's eyes averted away from her and set its sights on the two boys behind her, he gave them a nod as a sign of acknowledgement before ducking. One of the guys who were left baffled at the sight of their friend on the ground took his shot at Ichigo by throwing a punch only to find himself on his back on the pavement after being tossed aside.
"You uh… gonna take care of them?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it." Ichigo dodged a kick. "You just keep going."
Katsuko let out a breathy laugh. "Alright, Kurosaki. Thanks." she turned around. "Come on, guys."
"But…" Jun started, watching how Ichigo was dealing with his bullies. "What about…?" Haruki finished, unsure about how to feel about the situation as Katsuko pushed him and Jun along to walk with her.
"It's fine." Katsuko said nonchalantly. "Let's just head to the next bus stop. It's not that far."
Katsuko kept a few paces ahead of her friends, walking calmly. She pulled out her phone and started going through it and she didn't bother looking behind her to check if Jun and Haru were following her since she could hear their footsteps. What she didn't see was how they were constantly looking over their shoulder to watch Ichigo and his bullies duke it out.
...
...
...
Seated at a table, Ichigo boringly watched the tree leaves ruffle in the wind above him while his head was propped up. Yesterday's events didn't quite go as well as he had hoped, but he still got out of it looking better than the other guys. Today, he had a bruise on his forehead, a quite noticeable one too. He hated getting bruises from his fights since it made his sisters, especially Yuzu, worry so much.
He sighed heavily.
I forgot how boring it gets when I'm alone.
He saw two boys enter his peripheral vision. He didn't pay mind to it until they started settling themselves in front of him. Ichigo lowered his hand and gave them a confused look.
The taller boy cleared his throat nervously and proceeded to smile a little when he rubbed the back of his neck. The shorter one was smiling silently, glancing between his friend and the orange haired boy in front of him.
"Can I help you?" Ichigo suddenly asked.
The tallest boy quickly gathered himself together. "Uh… I'm Matsuoka Jun," he pointed at the boy next to him. "And this is Ichida Haruki."
"Hey." Haruki nodded. This prompted a quick nod from Ichigo himself.
Before Ichigo could ask them once more if they needed help with something because he was seriously confused, Jun apologized with Haruki, confusing the hell out of him even more. He didn't know these two guys at all. Who were they?
"We realized that… it wasn't actually right to judge you based on the rumors and stuff…" Jun explained while playing with his juice box. "You're actually not that bad. Our friend wasn't lying about that."
Ichigo frowned. "Uhh…"
"Yeah, we saw that you weren't actually some bad dude looking for fights and stuff." Haruki added while chuckling.
"Hey…"
"So, yeah. That's what we wanted to apologize for. You seem like a decent person, since you went out of your way to help us."
Ichigo cocked his head to the side when Jun said that. "Wait, I helped you?" he squinted his eyes.
Haruki paused for a moment. "... Yeah? Yesterday? With those bullies chasing after us!"
"Bullies chasing after… oh…." Ichigo was looking up as he recalled the memory. Then he looked at them seriously. "You guys were there?"
Jun stared at Ichigo in disbelief. "Yes." he replied without missing a beat. "We're Hiragi Katsuko's friends! You even looked at us!"
An imaginary light bulb went off in Ichigo's head, making him drop his fist in his hand. "Oh, now I remember." he nodded to himself.
Suddenly, Haruki laughed at that. "Man, I guess you have trouble remembering people. It was literally less than twenty-four hours ago." he said, Jun simply nodded in agreement. This only made Ichigo look away with a scowl as he felt slightly embarrassed by the obvious fact.
He then cleared his throat when he heard the two boys chuckling. "You didn't need to apologize just for that though."
Jun frowned a shook his head in disagreement. "Kinda felt like we had to since we were telling Katsuko to stay away from you."
Haruki sighed; he propped his head up with a hand. "But she obviously didn't listen."
Jun scoffed. "Yeah."
This was news to Ichigo. She didn't mention anything about people discouraging her from interacting with him.
"But anyway," Jun straightened up. "We don't have any problems with her hanging out with you now. But," Ichigo leaned away a little when he saw the deadly serious look on Jun's face. "If she gets hurt, watch out."
Ichigo sweat dropped for a moment. This feeling that Jun was giving off... yes, he was quite familiar with it. He actually felt like that every now and then when his sisters—
...
...
...
… Ah, so they're like her brothers then. Got it.
Mid-way through the lunch period, Katsuko got a message from Haruki who gave her rather specific directions. He was telling her to 'get her ass over there' before they up and left. It just made her scowl. Why should she go through the trouble to get up when they could just come to her instead? She actually considered just staying on her steps while chewing her food until Haru started spamming their chat. She grumpily gathered her things together and followed her friend's directions. She expected them to be there with probably some homework they needed her help with. What she didn't expect is seeing Jun and Haru having a full on conversation with Kurosaki, the three of them looking like they were enjoying themselves as they conversed.
Katsuko pulled a bewildered look as she approached the table while wondering what on earth happened between them to cause this easy-going looking atmosphere.
AhhHHHHhhh, I'm getting so impatient to reach the Soul Society Arc... But I know that I can't rush the things that come before it. We got one more chapter left to go before we move on to high school life!
Beck: Thank you for saying that. I'm glad that this story was somehow able to catch your interest! XD